Goodbye
by YellowVixen
Summary: Arthur has been shot by someone he can't quite remember, but it all comes flooding back to him when they start singing a familiar tune.


He couldn't believe. He was lying in the mud – he had been _shot_. Not only shot, but by his... brother? His son? Who was he? A stranger? No, a friend. Or an enemy. Or perhaps both...

His vision was going slightly blurry, but the pain in his lower chest was nothing compared to the pain in his heart, the deep throbbing, pumping pain and sadness and _confusion_ all through his body.

Then he heard it.

The voice, the other person, the one who shot him. Surprisingly, the voice was beautiful.

And he knew the song, if not all the lyrics.

 _You lie, silent there before me._

Yes, yes that was true. He couldn't speak at all. The pain was too much.

 _Your tears, they mean nothing to me,_

Wait, no. A lie.

 _The wind howling at the window,  
The love you never gave,  
I give to you,_

How? That wasn't true. He did love him... He had raised him from a child. He had done everything for him.

 _Really don't deserve it,  
But now, there's nothing you can do._

There wasn't. The rain poured down, into his slightly open mouth, concentrating on the voice that sang.

 _So sleep, in your only memory  
Of me, my dearest Arthur..._

He had a lot of memories. All of them were good, except this new one, this memory being formed right now...

 _Here's a lullaby to close your eyes.  
Goodbye_

Did he not even care? That he was dying, in the mud, in the rain.

 _It was always you that I despised._

No. A lie. It had to be a lie.

 _I don't feel enough for you to cry, oh well_

He could see him now, in that blue uniform. His face was dark, shadowed. He didn't look angry, or even upset. Just... depressed.

 _Here's a lullaby to close your eyes,  
Goodbye,  
Goodbye,  
Goodbye,  
Goodbye._

The other man turned, and started trudging across the mud. He wouldn't close his eyes. He wouldn't die. Not yet.

So he sang back.

 _So insignificant, sleeping dormant deep inside of me,  
Are you hiding away, lost, under the sewers,_

He got a brief sense of triumph as the other man stopped. He carried on, his voice croaking with the strain.

 _Maybe flying high, in the clouds?  
Perhaps you're happy without me..._

His voice cracked at that line. His... brother? Son? Friend? _Alfred._ Alfred knew nothing else, had grown up with him. How could he have been unhappy...?

 _So many seeds have been sown in the field,  
And who could sprout up so blessedly,  
If I had died I would have never felt sad at all,_

That was another lie. He would've been sorry to die, to not see Alfred grow up, to not be able to help. But now... His back was still turned, a black statue against a grey sky.

 _You will not hear me say 'I'm sorry'  
Where is the light, wonder if it's weeping somewhere?_

Would anyone cry for him?

 _Here's a lullaby to close your eyes.  
Goodbye_

Alfred repeated the chorus, emphasising it.

 _It was always you that I despised.  
I don't feel enough for you to cry, oh well_

That had to be a lie... But he could see Alfred's face now. It was the truth. The only water on his face was the rain. Or... how could he tell?

 _Here's a lullaby to close your eyes,  
Goodbye,_

Alfred turned for the last time, still singing. The pain numbed, freezing in the rain.

 _Here's a lullaby to close your eyes.  
Goodbye  
It was always you that I despised.  
I don't feel enough for you to cry, oh well  
Here's a lullaby to close your eyes,  
Goodbye,  
Goodbye,  
Goodbye,  
Goodbye._

He was still singing. Even as he walked away, he _sang._

 _Here's a lullaby to close your eyes.  
Goodbye  
It was always you that I despised.  
I don't feel enough for you to cry, oh well  
Here's a lullaby to close your eyes,  
Goodbye,_

He got an absurd image in his head of someone playing the piano. He laughed, a rough rasp, humourless. The sky was darkening, the rain falling, soaking into his clothes, his gun cold at his side. It fell into his eyes, filling them up with water, making them spill over. Or were those his tears?

 _Here's a lullaby to close your eyes.  
Goodbye  
It was always you that I despised.  
I don't feel enough for you to cry, oh well  
Here's a lullaby to close your eyes,  
Goodbye,  
Goodbye,  
Goodbye,  
Goodbye._

He smiled, wanly.

"Goodbye, you damned war.

Goodbye... Alfred."


End file.
